Diving Mexican legend Joaquin Capilla passed away

Mexico’s most medalled athlete in the Olympics, diver Joaquin Capilla died on May 8, 2010 in Mexico City, at the age of 81. Capilla, an inspiring idol for the divers and all sportsmen in the country, has been gold medallist in the 10m platform at the 1956 Games in Melbourne (AUS), silver medallist in the same event in 1952 (Helsinki, FIN), and bronze medallist twice (1948, London, 10m platform; 1956, Melbourne, 3m springboard).

After this unparalleled successes in Mexico’s sports history, Capilla, born on December 23, 1928 became very popular in his country and was even invited to participate in some movies.

FINA President welcomes you to the new website

I have the pleasure to invite all the members of the FINA Family and fans of our Sport to discover the new FINA website, aimed at better providing services to our 202 National Federations, athletes, officials, coaches, commercial partners, organisers and bidders, media and public at large.

Thanks to a new image and improved navigation tools, the promotion of our aquatic disciplines of Swimming, Water Polo, Diving, Synchronised Swimming and Open Water Swimming is also significantly enhanced. With this “refreshed” version of our site, FINA improves its communication with the protagonists of our Sport and certainly provides a better showcase of our activities in the five continents.

News round-up from Germany

After more than three years of renovation and an amount of 16.6m €
spent, the so-called “Schwimmoper” has been reopened in Wuppertal. The
symbolic “baptism” was named after Peter Nocke, the nine-time European
champion (1974 and 1977) who also got the gold in 1975 in the 4x200m
freestyle representing West Germany at the World Championships in Cali,
Colombia.

Mind over Matter

The success of Junya Koga, a Japanese backstroke star, owes more to the strength of mind than to hard work. His experiences of karate practice have given him new strength and led him to new heights in swimming.

The 22-year-old sprinter, who won the gold medal in the men’s 100m backstroke at the FINA World Championships Rome 2009, began to attend Karate practice in December last year after his acupuncturist, Hiroshi Shiraishi, introduced him to karate master Kenji Ushiro. “Thank all the people around you and do not forget it,” told him Shiraishi, who is known for taking care of many top athletes, such as former athletics’ super star Carl Lewis at Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 and Daichi Suzuki, who won the gold medal in the 100m backstroke at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. Ushiro, who learnt the old-style karate of Okinawa, had advised him, “Be prepared in your mind”.

North America is coming back

The last FINA Synchronised Swimming World Trophy, held in November 2009 in Montreal (CAN), gave fans a rare glimpse of something that had not occurred since 1996: a country other than Russia at the top of the podium. Three gold medals (highlight team, thematic duet and thematic team) secured Canada’s victory at the World Trophy, opening a door that had been closed for more than a decade.

For 25 years, the United States and Canada made a “gold-medal relay” of the main competitions around the globe, but the Russians have exerted their domination since 1997. With Canada’s late success, many synchronised swimming fans and specialists now ask the question: “Can the ‘founders’ regain their former glory?"